Saturday, July 4, 2009

Birdhouse Quilt Done!!!

Ephesians 4:3,4"Make every effort to keep in the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one Body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one Hope."

I don't know what it is with me and deadlines. I'm not one to procrastinate - well not exactly. I start on time and keep with a project throughout, but it seems like I'm still just finishing pieces just in the nick of time. So I use exhibits or competitions more for the deadline than validation.

The Birdhouses ended up just like that. I started designing this quilt in April. It "cooked" on my design wall most of May and by June, I said enough is enough - just get the dang thing done! I had chosen to carry on with the simple shape of the birdhouses and limit myself to two colors, gray blue and burnt orange. My process is explained in early blogs.

This week, I managed to get all the thread work done. I decided finally just to play with lines on it - adding different type of "shingles", straight lines, and a touch of stippling. The thread work was done with a batting sandwich. I then added the backing to put in the final quilt lines which basically outline the shape of the houses. This way the back stays nice and neat.

The quilt is only 26" by 32" and took 45 hours (including the design process). Its finished with a facing binding. As a self critique, I would say the composition is strong due to the repetition of shape and color. I think a better job could have done in value. Also, I could have come up with a better idea of how to use thread work on the face of the birdhouses. That really stumped me. I like the freezer paper template process of making the pieces but I would have appliqued them to the foundation using a straight stitch instead of the blind hem stitch.